djm

Mogwai messaged me with a link to a hitherto unknown (to me) photo of the underside of the Basket Shooter. Since the size of the image is beyond the accepted dimensions here on EuroBricks, I'll post the link to it instead Nice find Mogwai! Interestingly, it looks like the version 2 of the Basket Shooter with the following easy to see differences; the "H" construct on the side a shock absorber near the control panel not present in version 1 the middle linear actuator is adjusted from the side away from the control panel Someone else is welcome to take my LDraw file and amend/publish accordingly! Regards, David

The Basket Shooter instructions have now been tested. My thanks to OneMoreRobot for doing this. There have been a couple of alterations from the alpha build instructions but nothing that major. The beta instructions are available for download as a PDF as a BrickStock parts list as an LDraw file The design has also been loaded into Rebrickable. Note that for the Akiyuki Project, these instructions should still be considered to be in draft form. Blakbird's panache for instructions and alignment to the Akiyuki project standard have yet to be applied. Notes about the build; As identified earlier, the construction of the underside of the upper ramp with Akiyuki's original model is a total unknown. There is no known source showing the appearance of the ramp underside. There are two places in the original build where Technic bricks were used when there seemed to be purpose for them; the two 1x2 Technic bricks on the base plate and the 1x6 Technic brick on the trigger cover. You may decide to use normal system bricks in their place. OneMoreRobot reported an issue with his build which I did not encounter with mine. The aforementioned 1x2 Technic bricks were getting displaced when moving the trigger (using the control panel). His solution for this was a 1x2 plate on top of the 1x2 brick and a 2x6 plate on top of the 1x2 plated. Your actual mileage may vary. The build was reversed engineered from Akiyuki's video but some variations exist; the centre framework which spans from the left to right side. I originally built this as per the original Akiyuki model. However, I found that the centre of the upper ramp sagged in the middle. I therefore reworked the centre framework to provide a means to support the centre of the upper ramp with two 5L Technic beams (they can be hard to fit on but persevere). added additional support to the right hand side of the control panel the exit ramp differs from that shown in Akiyuki's "deconstruction" video. This build attempts to create the ramp seen briefly in the vidoe of the second version of the build. The reference material is somewhat spartan on that video. the ramp between the upper ramp and the trigger mecahnism uses hinge bricks. Akiyuki appears to have used 1x2 technic bricks plus a technic pin but I found the mounting on the supporting plate too flimsy. I have no qualms about these instructions being modified/improved as you see fit. Like the Akiyuki Cup-to-Cup GBC build instructions, these instructions simply represent an interpretation of Akiyuki's original model. Finally, a callout to OneMoreRobot for the suggestion regarding the exit ramp. It works very nicely mate. Thank you. Regards, David [Edit: added Rebrickable link. Acknowledged OneMoreRobot's exit ramp improvement].

Or some GBC examples available on this thread http://www.eurobrick...howtopic=117305

Alpha build done. Short shaky-cam of the first trial: There are a couple of tweaks to the build instructions I need to make. I should be able to get those done over the weekend all going well. Then I'll pass the beta instructions to the tester. Getting closer. Regards, David

Basket Shooter Update Earlier I has estimated that I'd be completing the Basket Shooter towards the end of January. There has been a delay or two and it is still work in progress. I thought I would at least show you a "grainy" photo of the actual build: The photo illustrates the build to date using the "alpha" build instructions. The "alpha" build instructions are those which I work through and revise prior to getting the build instructions checked independently by a tester. Working my way through the "alpha" build instructions helps me to eliminate simple errors in my LDraw file (e.g. duplication of a part in exactly the same location) and trying to work out reasonable views to rotate the model to in the instructions. Assuming that work doesn't get in the way, I'm perhaps two weeks away from having the "beta" build instructions ready for independent checking. Regards, David

Assuming by "this" you mean >>Suggestion: you may want to amend the notify tag from Y to N to prevent receiving a flood of part notifications being sent by BrickLink.<< then (from memory) what I do is 1) paste the clipboard into Notepad in Windows 2) use find and replace to replace the whole tag <NOTIFY>Y</NOTIFY> with the tag <NOTIFY>N</NOTIFY> 3) Select all of the content as it now is in Notepad 4) Paste the modified content into BrickLink Comments: 1) XML tags are case sensitive, so whatever the case (lower, upper or mixed) of the "notify" tag is, make sure you preserve it. 2) if there is no "notify" tag (I'm doing this from memory) then pick a closing tag and replace it with itself and <NOTIFY>N</NOTIFY> as above. e.g. replace </COLORID> with </COLORID><NOTIFY>N</NOTIFY> If your question is about something else, can you please clarify? Regards, David

I'd come to a similar conclusion. I also reached the conclusion that I wasn't going to attempt to model that aspect since not only was the visual information limited but it would extend the design timeline. I'm comfortable with not going there (or perhaps "left as an exercise for the avid reader"?). David

Basket Shooter Update I've finished the draft build of the Basket Shooter in LDD. A rendering of the build is shown below The build is an amalgam of the two versions of the Basket Shooter that I am aware of. The primary sources of information about the model which I have I would call them "version 1". The secondary information source is a couple of videos which are less detailed and I would call them "version 2". The build is primarily "version 1" but with the back wall coming from "version 2". The "version 2" back wall is the version referred to earlier in this thread by Blakbird. Note that the 1x2 Technic brick with two holes "hanging" off the side is there as I can't get it in place using LDD and I wanted my draft parts list to be correct. The reason for doing the build based mainly on "version 1" is that there is a higher level of detail available about the "version 1" build than the "version 2" build. The differences between the two builds that I have seen include; the entry point. The "version 1" build is a static entry point. The "version 2" build has a ramp inclined towards a lifting slope which drops the balls into the main area. the exit point. I have used the "version 2" exit ramp but without the additional exit framework at the rear of the model. the mystery "H". On the "version 2" build, there are a couple of Technic connectors and pins which form an "H" like shape on the external side wall perhaps 40% of the way down. I have no idea what the purpose of this is but I do wonder if it is related to the next difference the control panel. The "version 2" control panel appears to be stow-able. If you take a look at this , you can see the control panel is positioned both at an angle and external to the framework. Yet in the same , on the second time around, the control panel is positioned vertically, within the confines of the framework. I have no idea how this is achieved. I do wonder if the mystery "H" is part of this mechanism. The reference material I used for the build are; HispaBrick Magazine #014, English Edition. GBC with character Akiyuki's (?) blog There is one part of the build that is a bit in the nature of "here be dragons". While the upper part of the ramp is built using 16 x 8 tiles, I have been unable to identify any images/videos about the framework on which said tiles rest. I have therefore put an interpretation on what might be like but it is 100% guesswork. If anyone is aware of any other reference material about this GBC module which I have not listed above, please post a link to that material in this thread. It may help in removing the "here be dragons" from the map. My intended next steps are; BrickLink orders for the parts for the draft build Trial build (once the parts arrive). Given Xmas shipping delays, I suspect this will be completed in late January. Draft of build instructions in ldraw, with me rebuilding by following the instructions. Test build using draft instructions by tester (my tester is already lined up) Post draft LDraw file to the forum to allow Blakbird to apply the "Akiyuki Project" standard to them, as appropriate. Regards, David

Should anyone be interested, the NXT Rechargeable battery is on sale for US$39.97 at the LEGO Education site. Sadly, I understand they will only ship to addresses in the US as they expect non-US customers to source parts from the LEGO designated redistributors in other countries. So in my case as I live in New Zealand, I'm out of luck but at least it is an opportunity for those members who live in the US to consider if this offer is worthwhile. Regards, David

A BSX file is an XML document, so Excel can open it and turn it into a tabular representation. You won't get the pictures in Excel though. If you do want to import the underlying data and have pictures too, one option is available via the forum post http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=104054&view=&hl=&fromsearch=1, which describes an Excel template I put together to allow pictures to be displayed. There is a link in a post about halfway down which points to a location on Google Drive from where said template can be downloaded. Regards, David

Progress update on the basket shooter; This is a rendering of the build-to-date in LDD. I used LDD to POV-Ray Converter to turn the LDD file into a more aesthetically pleasing image than the screen capture capabilities available within LDD. I'd estimate I'm somewhere in the range of 40%-50% of the way through the reverse engineering. I think (hope!) I'm over the main hump, which I believe is the triggers. The triggers have a substantial degree of commonality but just enough differences that made the reverse engineering a bit painful. However, I'm reasonably confident that they are pretty close to Akiyuki's design. Chug, chug. David

Indeed, I've found when reverse engineering his GBC's I'll start off saying "why is that done like that" and then later will come the "Ahhh, that's cunning" moment. I've done the physical build of the trigger and can confirm that it isn't a problem. Indeed, it helped me to understand what another part is likely there for when I thought it appeared redundant. .... Ahhhh, that's cunning. David

Hmmm, I don't know. A bridge I have yet to cross. At the moment, I've encountered a 2 LDU "challenge" when digitally building the trigger. I'm likely to resort to building physically (it will never catch on) to see if the digital build is correct and whether or not it matters. David

Kudos to Blakbird for the version 2 build instructions. He gave me the opportunity to preview the build instructions. I can vouch that his instructions are significantly cleaner and clearer then my original instructions. The bar is being set higher! Regards, David

Chugging away: Progress update I'd estimate that this is about 20% of the build. The two other "triggers" are fairly similar to the first which is visible in the diagram. The other two are primarily variations on a theme.The trigger I have built is about 80% done - it needs the upper surface and horizontal rotating "finger".Once the triggers are done, next will be linking them to the "control panel". There is one link out of the six required showing in the picture above. This will be followed by some framework and brickwork. The floor and the superstructure at this stage look fairly straight forward. Regards, David

I've begun to investigate reverse engineering the Ball Shooter. I've started off using LDD to model the shooter mechanism. Here's a picture of the progress so far; I'll chug along with the reverse engineering in LDD. Assuming I get adequately close to completing the reverse engineering, I'll switch to LDCAD or MLCAD and produce an LDraw file and perhaps a PDF of the build instructions. I can't commit to a timeline as I have a few things on the go at present. Regards, David

Mate, I'm blaming you, If you hadn't posted the LDraw file for the Ball Factory, I wouldn't have set off down this slippery slope and worked out the Cup to Cup build. I get a feeling that I might just be building a couple more Akiyuki GBC modules for next year's Auckland LUG brick show, as this thread gets updated. Dang. David

Ooops, self-flagellation for me too. I failed to read Superkalle's response carefully enough to realize he had already provided an answer, rendering my two responses as adding no value. David

Mike, I'm not questioning your intent. It's the communication that is poor. For example, after the September 10th communication on KickStarter in which you stated the plastic tracks should be taken care of in a month, once you found out that your manufacturer wasn't going to meet that timeline, you should have posted an update on KickStarter. Please keep your backers informed in a timely manner. We accept there are difficulties but telling us nothing isn't a very good way to keep us informed. Under promise and over deliver. Simple stuff. Let me give you some context. Nearly 18 months ago, I pledged (and paid) $1000.00. I have seen nothing. I suggest that when you discover that your expected timelines are not going to be met, please take 5 minutes to update the KickStarter community. Regards, David

That panel is in LDD. In the part "search" box, type 64782. This will hide all part classifications except one. Expand the one that is left and you will see said panels. And yes, it isn't in the most obviously part classification. Regards, David

Hmmm, I'm at work so I can't confirm it for a few hours but I'm fairly sure those particular panels are in LDD. I initially built Akiyuki's Cup-to-Cup GBC using LDD and I'm reasonably sure I found those panels. I'll take a look when I get home and, if you haven't found them in the meantime, I'll post a subsequent reply in this thread. Regards, David

As I have yet to see any plastic track from my KickStarter pledge and the message has always been that the metal track would be done after the plastic track, you may be waiting some. The infrequent/inaccurate communication from ME Models is disappointing. e.g. September 10 on KickStarter "... we should have everything (plastic only) taken care of within a month ...". Err, no. It's now two months later and it hasn't been taken care of. As at October 29th, the message is " ... plastic orders are still shipping and hopefully all plastic will be done before Christmas ..." and that was only as a response to a question posted by a backer. So if the plastic rails will only "hopefully" done by Christmas (which year?), I can't see the metal rails being done before Christmas. David

Another GBC module from Akiyuki

The Auckland LEGO User Group (AuckLUG) is holding its annual Brick Show this weekend. Details about how to purchase tickets in advance (they are cheaper if bought online) can be found at http://www.aucklug.co.nz/. Entry for children under 4 is free. In the meantime, here is an image of the poster we are using to advertise the show So if you are in Auckland over Labour Weekend and were wondering what to do to pass the time, visit the Brick Show and spend an hour or two (and then some?) there.

Perhaps something like this? "Inventory" on the left, pseudo-brick on the right.